News

WSJ: Apple seeking $10-$15 e-book pricing

By Charles Starrett ● Wednesday, January 27, 2010

In its negotiations with book publishers, Apple has been pushing for e-book pricing in the range of $10-$15, according to a new report. Citing publishers that have met directly with Apple, the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is asking publishers to set two price points—$12.99 and $14.99—for hardcover best sellers, with fewer titles offered for $9.99. Under this scheme, publishers would set their own book prices, with Apple taking a 30% cut, the same it takes for regular paid apps published and sold on the App Store. The report also states that Apple was in “11th-hour” negotiations with publishers, some of which are hesitant to sign up with Apple due to the fact that they would receive lower per-book revenue than they do from Amazon, which is taking a loss on many of its $9.99 offerings. Apple is expected to announce details of its tablet device at its special media event later today.

Comments

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I hope Amazon’s Kindle app runs on the tablet. If I can get the latest best seller for $10 via Amazon, I’ll be choosing that over $13-$15 via iTunes. For me, $10 is kind of the sweet spot- any more than that and I might as well get the physical book which I can keep forever, resell, or donate to a friend of library. (Incidentally, I’ve pretty much stopped buying music on iTunes since they went to $1.29/song while Amazon has been offering hundreds of albums for $5 each month.)

Posted by Dyvim on January 27, 2010 at 9:56 AM (CST)

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This will not put them in competition with Amazon. Not a smart move!

If the iphone has a Kindle app, I’m sure it will work on the tablet. If not, Amazon will have a program in the next 6 months or less.

Posted by AF on January 27, 2010 at 10:59 AM (CST)

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I fail to understand this logic in any way. Sure, a new hardback, once the standard discounts are taken into effect, tends to hover around the $15 price point, but anyone buying a hardback at those prices is saying they want to support a favorite author or personality AND get the “deco” item for their home shelf. Meanwhile, the rest of the audience waits for the $7 paperback, or the $2 used bookstore copy, or the free library copy.

This whole notion that Apple or Amazon or anyone can build a new electronic book market by starting at prices that are far beyond what most of us are paying for physical books is doomed to fail, even for Apple.

Posted by Code Monkey on January 27, 2010 at 11:18 AM (CST)

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Apple is high if they think e-books upwards of $bucks is reasonable. Paperbacks costs under 10 AND ebooks use no paper (cost reductions?). It’s absurd to try to rip off consumers like this.

But that’s ok, we’ll just resort to getting non-DRM books and we can have the whole copyright discussions all over again thanks to the greed of companies like Apple and their cronies.

Posted by SantiagoDraco on January 27, 2010 at 4:39 PM (CST)

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Btw, Amazon already has Kindle for the iPhone/iPod Touch, so it won’t be months it will be days before it’s available UNLESS Apple tries to pull shenanigans and block the app (like they did with Google Voice).